GABF 2017

Year before last, the staging area was inside. I didn't go last year so I don't know how it was. That was great, they IDed you, wristbanded you, and gave you your glass so you were ready to go when the festival opened.

 

Yes, they will let part of the line inside before the gates open. I don't think it fit everyone, but a good portion were in.

 

Question for the group. It's been several years since I've been at this point -- wondering how much beer just runs out Thursday?

I.e., will something along the lines of monsters park just definitely be gone by Friday? I assume quite a few breweries just bring 1 or 2 kegs of their big stuff, but I don't really know if they hold anything back for later sessions?

 

Same question/concern here - coming from Minnesota, won't be in Denver until Thursday morning, and I'll be at the Saturday session. Will there be any of the "rare" stuff still available?

 

The breweries are encouraged to bring enough for all 4 sessions, but it doesn't always happen.

During the session, some beers will start running out 20-30 minutes after it opens. A considerable number of beers will run out at the end. It's somewhat difficult to predict when beers will run out unless you know how much they are bringing for each session. That being said, I think Saturday night is probably the riskiest because they very well may be out of some of the rare stuff before it even starts.

Last year Funky Buddha ran out of everything by the end, for example. But some of the lesser-hyped breweries were still pouring everything they had available.

 

Most everything will be around during the Member's session. Are you attending the afternoon or evening? If evening, I would agree with @Dan_K that a lot of stuff will start running out and it will be a drunkfest.

 

Afternoon! This is reassuring - thanks!

 

I am going to Saturday evening fest. I know there are people who actually get tickets to both sessions and that seems crazy to me. But hey, it's a free country. I feel like a lot of the people from the "meet the brewers" area are going to be exhausted because the awards ceremony is Saturday morning as well.

 

Check times for tappings, too. Some breweries will tap certain beers for a limited time, say 2pm or 7pm. They'll usually have signs up at the booths themselves. Not sure if the times are posted elsewhere

 

Thanks fellas... I remember the devastation of arriving at the 3F and TG tables my first time, only to find them packed up and gone. Hoping to avoid a similar fate this year, haha.

 

The Saturday morning session is actually a really good one to go to. Like 90% of breweries will still have their full line-up. Some RARs will be gone, but at least a few places will hold stuff back until Saturday, too.

Saturday afternoon can be dodgy, though. Lots of places start bailing early and the places that stick it out often only have a fraction of what they brought. Expect a lot of similar-tasting flagships and/or the stuff people didn't like enough to finish off. There are certainly exceptions, though.

IMO, the best sessions in order are Thursday, Saturday morning, Friday, and Saturday afternoon. Friday wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't amateur night. That's when the people who dropped $80 to get wasted an ounce at a time show up.

 

Haven’t been to the Saturday afternoon sessions in the past, but I can’t imagine that beating out the Thursday evening session... so much primo stuff available that you won’t see the rest of the weekend

 

It's actually a Saturday afternoon and a Saturday evening session. The first session is 12-4 and the second is 5:30 - 10.

 

I was listening to the late, great Tom Petty (RIP) when I was reading this and I imagined many out-of-towners seeing Denver for the first time awash in all of the beer riches that we have...

"...And I showed you stars you never could see
Babe, it couldn't have been that easy to forget about me"

 

Anyone seen Lawson's SoS in Denver liquor stores at all?

 

Mr B's had some a couple hours ago.

 

Grapevine too.

 

Thanks! After Elkevjoe confirmed that it had made it down to Denver, I went and checked out Grapevine and they still had some on the shelves as of 20 min ago

 

I swear to god every year brewers get together, figure out what I traded for that year, and then send it out for distro.

 

SoS is the absolute truth.. thought that Beachwood Amalgamator was great too. I’m pretty dick pumped for this week already!